What does it mean to be a member of Mensa?
-
Yeah, that sounds like the one I took earlier this year... I did great on the passage, and the rotations and such weren't so bad... But half the test was a bunch of relationships with images ("Which if these is most like/unlike this"), which could be related in enough different ways that it felt like a "Guess what the author was thinking" puzzle... These were like shrunk-down Office clip art images, not just abstract shapes. As for the algebra... That actually caught me off-guard... I've gotten so used to just grabbing a calculator, a cell phone, or a computer, that I had practically forgotten how to do multiplication (Talking about 4-digit numbers, not quick stuff)... Slowed me down enough to mess up my score. But hey, with all that, combined with me operating on four hours of sleep, I still only missed qualifying by one point. No point in retaking... I know I could have done it.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)Ian Shlasko wrote:
I had practically forgotten how to do multiplication
i probably groaned out loud when it came time to do long division by hand. what a nightmare that is...
-
I am a member of American Mensa. All it "means" to be a member is that I have a qualifying test score (national organizations have varying lists; here is the US list[^]) that places me in the 98th or 99th percentile. In general, Mensans have a kind of intellectual ADD: if you listen to a group of us talking, the conversation might well start out about cars, then move to the theory of interstellar space travel, to cosmology, to stellar physics, to nuclear power, to global warming and back to cars, all in about ten minutes time. It is a given that sex and food will be mentioned several times during that same ten minutes. This doesn't mean we're "retarded", just that our discussions are given more lead to wander where they will. A lot of people find such conversations difficult to follow; to be honest, we feel just as frustrated talking you. The result is that many high IQ people (Mensans and not) tend to be socially maladjusted: we don't get the kind of practice and positive feedback that you get for being social. That is why Mensa exists, to be a social organization that makes it easier for us to meet one another and engage people at our level.
There is your problem. Instead of focusing your enormously big brains on the world problems and solving them one at a time, you are jumping from subject to subject barely scratching the surface of the problems. I think Mensa should become a totalitarian organization and for the sake of the society to force you to focus on a specific subject using all necessarily measures even if they include electricity, whips and\or a variety of rusty steel tools.
There is only one Vera Farmiga and Salma Hayek is her prophet! Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
-
Ian Shlasko wrote:
I had practically forgotten how to do multiplication
i probably groaned out loud when it came time to do long division by hand. what a nightmare that is...
Actually, I've gotten pretty good at doing division in my head... You really only have to remember one string of digits and one carry... With long-form multiplication, you have to do a 1xN for each digit and accumulate, so there are a lot more digits to remember. But then, it's still faster on paper... And I still wasn't fast enough.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels) -
I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
Mensa is more or less a self-help group for people with high IQ's whose spirits got crushed in gears of meritocracy. Having a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart. It just means you're good at some things most people are really bad at. Being a member doesn't mean anything, except that you get to go to meetings and meet new people.
Giraffes are not real.
-
I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
This is an organization of people who have made the effort to take the Mensa test and scored among the top few persent. The tests are basically measuring the mathematical intelligence as opposite to the emotional intelligence. That’s why membership in Mensa will look great in the resume of the programmer but solely is not enough well you’re hiring manager, marketing specialist or engineer who will be a project leader. AFAIK it also doesn’t measure the creativity. IMO this test are not to be underestimated but in many cases the summary of the high school grades/score will give you far more reliable information of how intelligent a person is.
There is only one Vera Farmiga and Salma Hayek is her prophet! Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
-
There is your problem. Instead of focusing your enormously big brains on the world problems and solving them one at a time, you are jumping from subject to subject barely scratching the surface of the problems. I think Mensa should become a totalitarian organization and for the sake of the society to force you to focus on a specific subject using all necessarily measures even if they include electricity, whips and\or a variety of rusty steel tools.
There is only one Vera Farmiga and Salma Hayek is her prophet! Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
Actually, Mensa was founded (in Oxford, UK, 1943) specifically "to identify and to foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity." The idea was to create a brain trust that governments could turn to when they needed help figuring out their problem. It didn't work out quite that way: people felt a bit skittish after WW II with having a "superior master group" calling the shots. Imagine that. :rolleyes: There are a few think tanks (in the US, at least) that heavily recruit Mensa members, and several others that do not recruit but will put Mensans on the top of their HR's inbox. Mensa International and the various national Mensa groups, however, are just member-driven social clubs, nothing more.
-
Not pass the test, huh :)
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost
-
Mensa is more or less a self-help group for people with high IQ's whose spirits got crushed in gears of meritocracy. Having a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart. It just means you're good at some things most people are really bad at. Being a member doesn't mean anything, except that you get to go to meetings and meet new people.
Giraffes are not real.
0bx wrote:
Having a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart. It just means you're good at some things most people are really bad at.
It it's that, really. Most people have either an in-depth knowledge of one or two fields (just football, or just gardening, or just computer coding), or they have a dabbling interest in many fields (they'll cook, knit, play World of Warcraft and strum a guitar, but only a little bit in all of these.) In my experience, Mensans tend to have a strong interest in and knowledge of many fields: they might be great cooks, have an excellent flower garden, be active in the local dodgeball league, read several books every week and sit on a couple of charity boards. It is not that we are good that things that most people are really bad at; its that we typically have more things that we are good at than is typical. Mind you, though, that doesn't mean we are good at everything, even though a lot of us like to pretend that we are. :rolleyes: We may have more fields of expertise, but outside of those we're just as ignorant as everyone else.
-
Dalek Dave wrote:
Peaked at 154.
Pfft. Not even enough to join Mega Society. Pathetic.
Somebody in an online forum wrote:
INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.
-
This is an organization of people who have made the effort to take the Mensa test and scored among the top few persent. The tests are basically measuring the mathematical intelligence as opposite to the emotional intelligence. That’s why membership in Mensa will look great in the resume of the programmer but solely is not enough well you’re hiring manager, marketing specialist or engineer who will be a project leader. AFAIK it also doesn’t measure the creativity. IMO this test are not to be underestimated but in many cases the summary of the high school grades/score will give you far more reliable information of how intelligent a person is.
There is only one Vera Farmiga and Salma Hayek is her prophet! Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
Deyan Georgiev wrote:
in many cases the summary of the high school grades/score will give you far more reliable information of how intelligent a person is.
I would disagree. Public education systems are geared toward the mediocre average: if you are significantly above or below that average, you will do poorly.
-
I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
It means that your dating opportunities will be limited to people who are even more boring than you, unless of course, you stick to dates who barely qualified for admission. :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
-
It means that your dating opportunities will be limited to people who are even more boring than you, unless of course, you stick to dates who barely qualified for admission. :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
Just because you can't keep up with us doesn't mean we're boring ;P
-
It means that your dating opportunities will be limited to people who are even more boring than you, unless of course, you stick to dates who barely qualified for admission. :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
Roger Wright wrote:
stick to dates who barely qualified for admission
You mean like ditzy brunettes?
Somebody in an online forum wrote:
INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.
-
Dalek Dave wrote:
Peaked at 154.
Pfft. Not even enough to join Mega Society. Pathetic.
Somebody in an online forum wrote:
INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.
-
I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
I may have poor sample, but it seems to me that it means your IQ is in the upper 1.95% - 2.0% of the population.
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
-
I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
Not much, apparently, if you take into consideration the grammar and punctuation of the member who is representing the organization in this thread!
-
-
0bx wrote:
Having a high IQ doesn't mean you're smart. It just means you're good at some things most people are really bad at.
It it's that, really. Most people have either an in-depth knowledge of one or two fields (just football, or just gardening, or just computer coding), or they have a dabbling interest in many fields (they'll cook, knit, play World of Warcraft and strum a guitar, but only a little bit in all of these.) In my experience, Mensans tend to have a strong interest in and knowledge of many fields: they might be great cooks, have an excellent flower garden, be active in the local dodgeball league, read several books every week and sit on a couple of charity boards. It is not that we are good that things that most people are really bad at; its that we typically have more things that we are good at than is typical. Mind you, though, that doesn't mean we are good at everything, even though a lot of us like to pretend that we are. :rolleyes: We may have more fields of expertise, but outside of those we're just as ignorant as everyone else.
I like your explanations Gregory. :thumbsup:
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
-
Not much, apparently, if you take into consideration the grammar and punctuation of the member who is representing the organization in this thread!
Jason Hooper wrote:
Not much, apparently, if you take into consideration the grammar and punctuation of the member who is representing the organization in this thread!
If you are talking about Gregory then I should let you know that IMHO he is a stand up guy. Being intelligent has nothing to do with spelling and grammar.
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
-
I may have poor sample, but it seems to me that it means your IQ is in the upper 1.95% - 2.0% of the population.
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
I may have poor sample
:-D
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)